1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an end cap. More particularly, the present invention relates to an end cap of a lighting tube.
2. Description of Related Art
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have many advantages such as high efficiency and long life. Therefore, traditional fluorescent tubes are gradually being replaced by LEDs.
LEDs produce heat and high temperature during the conversion of electricity into light. When the temperature rises, the lighting efficiency and life span of light-emitting diodes decrease. Thus, there is a need to provide a heat sink in an LED lighting tube. However, such a heat sink may limit the lighting angle of the LED lighting tube so that the LED lighting tube cannot emit light in all directions (i.e., 360 degrees) like the mercury lighting tube.
Thus, a rotatable LED lighting tube that allows for adjustments in the lighting direction has been developed and offered on the market. However, such a rotatable LED lighting tube includes several complex components to allow rotation of the LED lighting tube. Therefore, the rotatable LED lighting tube has several problems such as high cost and complex assembly.
When a manufacturer produces both rotatable lighting tubes and the fixed lighting tubes, the manufacturer has to design and make two kinds of conventional end caps to be respectively secured with the rotatable lighting tubes and the fixed lighting tubes. Thus, the manufacturer must invest much time and effort into producing the two kinds of the conventional end caps, as they cannot be interchangeably used by the rotatable lighting tubes and the fixed lighting tubes. One consequence of this is the increased storage associated with having to stock two different types of end caps.
Therefore, there is a need to develop an end cap that is capable of avoiding the foregoing disadvantages.